Is it wrong to be brought to the Dungeon by an accident?
by Foxinatank
Summary: After going to sleep and dreaming of a strange magical accident, a man ends up in the world of Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka, only he isn't a 'he' anymore! What happened? What will our hero(ine) do now? Why is he a woman now? Look inside to find out! Rated M for the whole alphabet soup of reasons
1. Chapter 1

I think it goes almost without saying that when considering where this is published, my name doesn't have Omori in it and I don't own the rights to Danmachi/Dungeon ni Deai O Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?, this is a fanwork written out of passion for and with a love of the original work and a desire to test for myself my ownabilities to write a work of fiction, that all being said, thank you in advance for reading. -Kitsuneguy17

I sighed and quit out of Skyrim, shutting the computer down, having tried for the fourth time in the last two hours to give myself some break from the drudgery of my life.

Nothing appeared to be working ' _Maybe I should just go to bed_ ' I thought. Video games and fantasy novels had always been my escape of choice, along with the occasional

DD game with friends. It had been a month since my boss called me up to let me know that we had just gotten short-handed and I had been slotted into the open spot and

my hell of eleven hour work days, five days a week, began.

Leaning back and blowing out a long breath, I turned my computer chair around and levered my tired body up until I was standing ' _One more day, then it's a three day_

 _weekend, still I'd give just about anything to not have to go into work tomorrow_ ' I thought as I worked my way past the narrow spot where my unused mountain bike making

it to the bedroom I grabbed the book on the bedside table and collapsed in bed, opening it up at the bookmark, my jaws opening in a long yawn shortly after my head hit the

pillow ' _On second thought, no book tonight, was more tired than I thought_ ' I barely put the book down and closed my eyes before I felt sleep overtake me. Tonight was

different however from my usually dreamless sleep, bringing with it a strange dream: A man with a headdress that made it look like he had a birds head working in what

looked like a lab inside a pyramid when a woman with a cat-like headpiece walked in, both with skin like copper, where she was dressed in something that reminded me of

that one Egyptian looking chick from Queens Blade, he was dressed in something that looked like a cross between a lab coat and a robe. "You are so boring,we're down on

Gekai now, learn to live a little and not spend all your time with your nose in a book!" she rebuked the man as she walked around, her voice sounding strangely distant and

distorted, the only real noise I could hear in my otherwise silent dream. Her lip curling as she half sneered at an open book on a table with what looked like a cross between

Egyptian hieroglyphs and Norse runes. Turning she climbed up a large bookshelf that stretched almost to the ceiling, there being just enough room for her to and balance on

all fours while on top of it, she crawled catlike along the shelf, knocking things off on to the floor like an irritated feline when something was in her way. The man looked up

from the book he was writing in with great distress as a glass jar hit the floor with a loud crash and sent broken glass skittering across the floor. With a shout he tried to stop

her, but failed, jars, stone tablets, and things I couldn't identify all met the floor, usually not surviving whole, finally she reached the end of a line of shelves. "Oops" she said

with a grin"was all that important?" she laughed, then turned her eyes to another shelf, this one having only one thing, a large, man-sized glowing crystal, she wiggled her

butt like a cat judging the distance it has to leap, the man followed her eyes and started really freaking out, grabbing what looked like some pole that was used to retrieve

books from the upper shelves, it reminded me of one of those grabber tools that Billy Mays used to sell, and tried grab at her with it, trying to get her off the shelf while also

trying to get himself in between her and the crystal, a 'fight' he quickly lost as she dodged him and leaped onto the shelf and with a laugh put both hands on the crystal and

shoved, causing it to shatter in the middle of an inscribed glowing circle on the floor, the circle flaring brightly and making a tremendous noise, overpowering the man's

screams of anger "YOU DAMN CAT, NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" as shelves swayed and toppled, the whole building seemed to shake before the dream faded.

 **An unknown amount of time later**

' _What is that noise, it's not the pigeons, sounds like someone knocking_ ' "Go away!" I roared at the source of the noise, rolling over I tried to grab half my pillow and fold it

over to block out the noise that had brought me out of my much desired sleep. What followed was the sound of my door being kicked in and the sound of heavy footfalls.

"What the f-" I cried out and tried to bolt out of bed, reflexively grabbing at the wall hanger sword I kept at my bedside for home defense. The knife block was probably a

better choice and was admittedly right out my bedroom door, but right now there was a guy in between me and it, and even more strangely, he was in a mix of what looked

like thick sturdy clothing that didn't match and armed with short sword, I was half naked, having worn a pair of flannel sweatpants to bed, and armed with a cheap $20 sword

that I'm pretty certain didn't have an edge and was meant only to look pretty on a wall.

I let loose a wordless cry and went on the offense, aiming a stab for his face and in my head the thoughts suddenly intruded _'What is going on? Why is he here? Was my_

 _voice higher just now!? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!_ ' he countered, falling back and backing up into my fridge, thinking that this gave me an opening, I pressed the

attack even more, but he countered my next attack with an almost contemptuous ease and I recoiled as his blade caught my hand leaving me with a nasty cut and making

me drop my weapon on reflex. I grabbed at my hand from the sudden explosion of pain, only to be grabbed and thrown down on my bedroom floor, my head hitting into a

pile of books, and I must have hit something else because I felt a sharp pain in my tailbone, his sword quickly ending up at my throat, shortly followed by a large firm hand

around my neck "Hold still you crazy bitch! I only want your valuables! I don't want to hurt you but I will if you try that again!" I could barely hear all that though, my mind

was racing, my rage at this invasion of my home was reaching a crescendo, but my body was frozen, unable to move. I hadn't been much of a fighter when I was younger,

but now when my life was truly in danger, when of all times I needed to move, I was frozen in fear.

Hearing a grunt, I looked at his face, the look I saw there disgusted me, he was liking something he saw, roughly kicking me legs apart he leered down at me in an

expression I had never seen before on a man's face, and I didn't like what I saw "Well now that you're calmed down and I've got a good look at you...not bad, not bad at all,

somebody in Orario will definitely pay a good price for an exotic woman like you" he withdrew the blade only an inch or so, turning to the side and calling "Hey! We got a

good one in here! get your ass in here an' help me tie her up!" Getting on his knees, his blade still far too close to my throat for my liking ' _What did he say, a woman!?'_ the

thought shot through my mind, without the immediate threat of a new hole in my throat I had the brief time to look at my chest and saw that indeed I was not the man I had

gone to sleep the previous night as. Two bulges on my chest were plenty of evidence of that, and seeing as how I wasn't a virgin, I could imagine what I had gained in

addition to what I had lost. Realizing for the first time both what he intended and the severe danger I was in if I let him continue, I panicked and tried to cover myself while

screaming as loud as I could "LEAVE ME ALONE YOU SON OF A BITCH!". With a loud shout of anger and something that sounded like "Shut the fuck up!" my assailant stabbed

into the book next to my head, I think hoping to scare me, or maybe silence me at the very least, but with a mental click something had changed, his plan worked for about

half a second, but then my rage snapped the chains of my fear and self control and I was NOT going to tolerate this shit going any further, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him

in, stiffening my fingers I put a pair of them directly in one of his eyes, feeling the orb of tissue give way as blood started pouring down his face, he recoiled and tried to stab

me, but I immediately pushed on his arm, trying to open the distance so I could find some room to breathe, sending him off balance. I grabbed the nearest thing at hand,

another book (as it turned out later, my hardback copy of Bulfinch's Mythology) and hurled it at him, hitting him right in the face and from the blood and pained yell, I must

have done some damage, I moved in and grabbed his arm, narrowly avoiding a stab in the gut, as he was trying to pull his arm back at the same time I was trying to turn

the blade, the result was him being stabbed in with his own weapon. He cried out at the same time I let loose a howl of rage and started to pummel him with my fists, the

power of my fury lending me strength, when he went down to the ground I hit him several more times for good measure, then my eyes landed on my sword, I picked it up

and stabbed him over and over again, the blade hitting something inside him, the point sticking in his corpse and not coming out no matter how hard I pulled.

I heard another male voice calling out in what sounded like a question, I stopped trying to pull the blade of the body at my feet and just listened, I couldn't understand what

was being said but it made my blood ran cold and I quickly looked down, it would take too long to pull the sword out, like a flash I quickly hurled aside my closet door and

grabbed my most expensive weapon, a battle ready ninjato that I had picked up when a local blade store had been going out of business several years ago at one of the local

malls, it came out of the sheath with a dry rasp as the polished high carbon steel left the wood of the scabbard, the pain of my hand forgotten, blood dripping to join the first

of my attackers.

If I had anything to say at all about the fate of the second, he would be joining him shortly. As I heard the sound of boots striking my kitchen floor I readied myself, knowing

that his companions silence might give me away I let out what I thought sounded like some pitiful cries even as I readied a blind stab for where I thought the general area of

his mid to upper torso would be and luck was with me, as his companion rounded the corner with a look of utter horny stupidity, he started to say something as he rounded

the corner, and had just long enough to realize his mistake when the tanto point of my sword tip caught him right between the ribs around the sternum and it sank in him so

far the guard hit him in the chest as I powered into him with an incoherent yell, I saw his eyes cloud over in death as his last breath rattled out right in my face, strangely, I

noticed how good his teeth looked. I quickly pulled my sword free and listened carefully, every fiber of my being straining to the limit, but finally it appeared that I was in fact

alone.

Shuddering as my adrenaline levels stopped being somewhere just south of the stratosphere I took stock of my situation and quickly vomited, both from the shock but also

the smell of freshly released bowels, I worked hard at keeping myself from heaving again at the sight and smell of my own vomit, moving away and gulping air like a fish

trying to find water.

Desperate to distract myself from what I had just done, I latched onto the first thing I could think of 'I suppose I should look in a mirror now, hope I have something that still

fits and while I'm at it I probably should prepare just in case I REALLY have a woman's body, 'cause nothing I think could suck more than starting my period right now' legs

wobbling a bit, I walked into my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and was shocked, I now had fox ears with a faint covering of fur on them, it looked around the

same shade of black as found on a red fox, my hair had doubled in length, it now hung now around my mid back as I swept it out of my eyes with one hand, with my hair

now out of my eyes I could see the whole of my changes much more clearly, my eyes had turned a much brighter shade of blue and my stomach had gone from the muffin

top I was used to into flat with the barest hint of muscle showing, along with the ears the most shocking change had been the tail I was now sporting, it was around arm

length or so, it's exact size was hard to determine as the fur had poofed out and was covered in more fur that again reminded me of a member of , the common red fox, with

a mostly red fur with a white tip.

If I had to gauge my level of fitness, I would describe it as fit but not overly so. My skin had cleared up and had shifted tone to an even paler tone 'Damn! I'm pretty fucking

hot!'' I thought as I took several moments to admire my new appearance, poking, prodding, turning this way and that in the mirror. I giggled, finding the sound much more

pleasing than my laugh from before I had been turned into a fox-woman, in my excitement I jumped up a bit only to regret it as I did not account for Newton and after I

landed I felt something stretch painfully inside my body _'Ow! never doing that again!'_

Now in a bit of pain, I hunted through my large pile of clean clothes and found that I had indeed managed to have some good fortune, my regular clothes still fit me relatively

well, though some of my smaller shirts wouldn't be able to fit anymore, my feet in contrast had become quite small in comparison to how large they had been before _'Damn, I_

 _may have to walk barefoot at this rate'_. I continued to search through my pile of clean laundry as I thought on the problem _'Hmm, if I just layer socks on top of socks that_

 _hopefully will work to bulk up my feet, it's worth a shot'_ I ended up using about 6 pairs of socks until I was able to fit into my hiking boots, it was around this time that my

stomach made it's presence known with a loud growl, checking my battery powered alarm clock I saw that the time was around 9:30am. I looked out my front door, which is

a straight shot from my bathroom and saw a sight that conversely shocked me and at the same time didn't, instead of the other apartments and other urban scenery that I

would have expected, a bunch of trees and forest undergrowth was what I saw. 'What-the-fuck?' my mouth hung open as the sight registered in my brain for a moment

before I simply looked down at my breasts, shrugged, and continued with what I was doing.

Eventually I returned to important matters, searching each of my attackers for anything that might be useful _'They chose to attack me, I defended myself, they don't deserve_

 _any respect in death'_ quickly I stripped them of everything I could, placing anything that looked useful in separate piles: weapons, equipment, clothes and a strange looking

gold amulet that looked like some kind of bird, that my first attacker was wearing on a cord around his neck, it looked valuable, and maybe I could use it to find out more

about him, at the very least, it looked valuable.

The sun was rather bright as I actually stepped outside and looked around, paying closer attention to the details _'whatever happened, it brought my apartment and part of_

 _the neighbors too, this looks like some kind of temperate zone, that looks like a pine, but I don't recognize any of the birdsong'_ My search was cut short when my stomach

growled again and I realized just how hungry I was getting, 'I should eat, but first things first' I turned to the two now naked bodies in my apartment, I grabbed number two

and dragged him out the door by the arms, feet leaving a visible drag mark in the forest floor, I dragged him until I was satisfied that he was far enough away that I wouldn't

have to smell him if he started turning 'Hopefully something opportunistic and hungry, but still afraid of me takes care of him before that happens if I have to stay here' my

arms and shoulders had started hurting from the effort, so I dropped him and went back for the other one, _'Yep, definitely not as strong as I used to be'_ Afterwards I shut my

now broken front door, dragging my lounge chair in front of it, hoping that would be heavy enough to at least slow someone down, for good measure I added my snow tires

in a small pile behind it to give my makeshift barricade some additional weight.

Finally I leaning back against the door, I tipped my head and rested it for a moment on the door, feeling the cool metal against my back, _'Whew, I hope that is enough_

 _weight! In any case, I should get some food'_ with a small groan I plodded over to my fridge, it was still cold, though without power that wouldn't be the case indefinitely. I

quickly ate last nights mango-habanero chicken wings, the flavor different, more pungent than before, my mouth left burning in a way that I thought I had long stopped

feeling, but I pushed through _'New body, new taste buds apparently'_ I mentally shrugged and chewed stoically.

Stomach full for the moment, I sat down, unable to keep moving as some of the reality of my situation hit me _'Okay...I am a woman, or at least have a body of one, I have_

 _been attacked by people who look like they just left a renaissance fair, whatever happened brought me and my whole apartment with me'_ I got up and searched around for

one of my notepads and started writing

1\. Where am I?

2\. What happened to make me a woman?

3\. Who attacked me and why?

4\. Where to now?

I sat for what must have been half an hour doing nothing but sitting still, rolling these questions around in my head, not really able to come up with any answers. Tired of

sitting around wondering about questions that don't have any answers that weren't staring me in the face and realizing that I would have to go out into the world to find

those answers, I focused on getting myself ready for travel, I checked on things I thought wouldn't keep in the fridge, the dairy products, the non-frozen meats, and the

couple of one pound blocks of cheese. Remembering suddenly the bug out bag I tried to assemble during the last election in case law and order failed, call me paranoid but

I'd rather have that and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

I opened my closet and there it was still, I hadn't gotten around to replacing the MRE's that I had originally bought for it, I had subsequently eaten them to make sure I could

both function and stand the taste, but I still had plenty of canned food. Looking at the time it was around 10 am, by 10:30 I had thrown in everything I could think of like my

food, my hatchet, and almost everything else that my decade plus old education from the Boy Scouts told me I'd need. I sat on my floor with my packed tent in front of me _'I_

 _don't know how far it is to the nearest town, it could be a ways, so I should take it in case I need to camp, but if it isn't, it might just be dead weight that slows me down, I_

 _suppose in that case I could trade it even if it is getting a little on the old side'_ Getting up, I looked around one last time, both outside and in, "I'd hate to wonder how much

I'd be up shit creek if whatever brought me here hadn't brought all my stuff with me" I quietly said to myself, echoing my inner thoughts. "I don't know if this weather is

going to hold or not, I don't know where I am, and I'm not entirely human now... fuck it, for all I know this is another world" I then set about assembling a full set of my

clothes, ending up with some denim pants, a sleeveless shirt that fit my new chest without much difficulty, under which I was wearing a knock off Under Armour compression

top to hold said chest in place, my breathing hampered only a tiny bit, though as I lacked a bra my nipples were quite visible under just the two layers of clothing, and my

London Fog raincoat that I found in a thrift store years ago. I stuck my tongue out in thought as I stood once again in front of my bathroom mirror _'This alone might be_

 _enough, but it doesn't pay to underestimate the distance or the weather, I better make sure to pack for winter just in case'_ I sighed _'but I should also hurry, I don't know if_

 _those two had friends or not, I might have more company soon.'_ I looked outside _'Sun looks like it's moved a little bit, I think it might be afternoon now, maybe I should just_

 _barricade myself in for the night and start off fresh tomor..'_ my train of thought was interrupted by a noise I didn't recognize coming from the direction that I had dragged the

bodies, a loud inhuman screaming and what sounded like the sounds of two creature quarreling.

 _'Damn, guess I better fortify and hope whatever that is or whoever doesn't notice me'_ Rushing, I moved everything that I could into the bedroom, tossing a few more cans of

food and ramen packets onto the bed along side everything I thought i might need when I left, leaving the barricade at the front door alone I started packing the backpack

with the food and extra clothes just in case I needed to be out quickly, putting my attackers clothing, as disgusting as some of it was, over what I was already wearing, if

whatever it was had claws or something, hopefully the extra layers would provide some protection, though at this point I'd have killed for some plate armor, ditching the tent

in favor of the tarp the backpack already had with it.

I heard what sounded like a very loud jabbering group approaching. I hurriedly shut and locked the bedroom door and made sure the blinds were fully drawn, I even tried to

get one of my bookcases moved in front of the rooms only window, barely succeeding in getting the fully loaded shelves moved even an inch before I realized the stupidity of

that action _'What if I need to leave in a hurry? Better to leave this as is'_ I heard what sounded like a fist hitting the front door, quickly followed by several more impacts on

the walls, eventually I heard the glass in the living room shatter and what voices I could hear didn't sound anything near human. I gripped the ninjato tightly _' Please God,_

 _Don't let them look in here! Don't let them look in here!'_ I desperately begged.

End Ch 1


	2. Chapter 2

I shook my head ' _Stupid, they'll find the door and break it down, get out while you can!_ '

I grabbed the bag and tried to pack it as fast as I could, freezing when the noises of casual destruction or arguing subsided. I let out a huge mental sigh of relief as I finished cramming the last thing into the pack. Focusing again, I listened ' _Sounds like there couldn't be more than maybe three or four, still, those are odds that I don't want to test myself against, Lady Luck hasn't been a bitch yet, but I don't want to push her_ '

Slowly and carefully I took out the old plastic bottles that I had used as a window chock to keep the window from opening more than a couple inches. Taking a deep breath and steeling my resolve as I could think of no way to do this next part quietly, I pulled out my multitool and got the knife blade out, I tore the window open as hard and fast as i could, the squeak of the window rubbing against the frame sounding like the scream of a damned soul to my ears, bringing the knife around in an arc and plunging it through the screen as high as I could reach towards the upper corner and pulled, trying to make a hole large enough to fit my pack and me through, the noise of the window opening and the loud snap of the wire screen as it was being cut through alerted the intruders as I could hear over my frantic efforts the pounding on my bedroom door ' _Why isn't this working!?_ '

I could hear my bedroom door starting to splinter. I attacked the screen growling in rage and finally made a hole big enough. I tossed my multitool through and quickly hefted the backpack up and through the window, my sword following before I stepped on a box of old comics and vaulted out the window, I quickly put the pack on my shoulders, grabbed the ninjato and after a short frantic search found my multitool just as the bedroom door gave way. I started running as fast as I could, the direction didn't matter at the time, I just ran, the inhuman screeching noise I heard made me turn around briefly.

I saw some kind of short, ugly, and gangly green creatures that didn't look anything close to human. They screeched louder and started after me, I turned and ran, convinced that I wouldn't survive such an unbalanced fight, fortunately they appeared to be satisfied for the moment at least at having driven me off, as I didn't hear any further sounds of pursuit after awhile, or maybe I had just outrun them. I didn't care anymore as I dropped to my hands and knees, dropping my sword and multitool, my legs aching like I hadn't felt them ache in years, ever since I had started working at my job, being forced to power walk for 5 miles or more just to get done on time.

With a groan I tried to lever myself up, only to fall down. ' _I really should have worked out more_ ' I let that thought percolate through my brain, then looked down, seeing my new chest again I laughed at the absurdity of everything that had happened, realizing that maybe it wouldn't have mattered in the end. After sitting for awhile catching my breath, I used my sword as a crutch to succeed the second time. Feeling rather overheated from all the running, I peeled layers off until I was down to the pants and the two layers of shirt, hanging the trench coat on top of the pack. ' _Wow, Shadiversity was right, cloth armor really will overheat you, or was that Skallagrim? Doesn't matter, too hot_ ' I grabbed up the clothing and started walking, just forward at first, but as the ache in my legs started to subside I started looking around at the terrain. Looking for any kind of potential landmarks in case I wanted to come back with some help in the future ' _That mountain range is pretty big, but it's too far away...what was it they said during Wilderness Survival? "If you can't find what direction you need to go to find the nearest bastion of civilization, move downhill, water flows downhill and people like to build near water, so find a river and follow it, the further downriver you go, the more likely you are to encounter people."_ '

I started paying attention to the lay of the land, trying to find a way up if possible, it might give me a better look at the area. After a distance I couldn't guess the size of, I finally caught a break, as there was a worn looking foot-path, too wide to be just a game trail on the ground that looked like it actually went somewhere. ' _A sign of civilization! I might actually not be that far from help!'_

Looking both directions I stood still ' _decisions, decisions, which way to go? Don't see any smoke either way, and it's hard to tell which way is downhill'_

Mentally shrugging that either direction has to lead somewhere at the very least, and starting to feel a bit thirsty, I started off to my left. The going was fairly easy, no trees appeared to be laying across the path, which I took as a good sign, eventually, I came to the edge of a small valley and realized that I was a good ways away from a river, but looking at the sun, I realized I could probably reach it by nightfall, or be rather close.

The path continued down the ridge, so I made my way down , upon reaching the bottom and continuing on, i noticed several other paths that connected to mine. I felt my spirits rise, buoyed even as I could feel my throat become increasingly dry from all the exertion. It was in the afternoon, looking at the sun's general position, it was probably somewhere around 1 or 2pm,at least it would be back home, considering those things that had attacked me, I obviously wasn't in Oregon anymore.

' _No cityglow, probably should find a place to camp soon, river would probably make a good spot_ ' Eventually I stood at the river's edge, dropping my backpack and the extra clothes to the ground with a small cacophony of canned food, my mess kit, and a few other things. I quickly got on my knees on the riverside, cupping my hands beneath the water, leaning close, seeing again the reflection of a face not my own, but one that I wore nonetheless, I didn't spend time pondering it however, I was too thirsty to care as I quickly brought my hands to my face, the water tasted cold and refreshing, I dipped my hands in several more times, drinking my fill and glad that I had found water so soon. ' _It's all downhill from here, literally haha'_

I thought to myself, reaching into my bag I fished around for my mess kit and for a can of food "Campbells Homestyle Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla" I read the title out loud, while eating I amused myself trying to get my ears to swivel where I wanted them to ' _Might be stuck like this awhile, might as well figure out how my new body works_ '

I heard a rustling noise and smelled something odd from downwind. I put the food down and grabbed my sword, the rustling continued and only increased my worry, my tail tail puffing out as my ears perked up and pointed forward, straining to hear ' _I swear I heard something!'_

Looking around the only thing I could see and hear was a fox running along the river with a rabbit in its mouth. In all of my worry and stress I hadn't really taken note of some of the differences that I was experiencing with my new body, the food earlier I assumed was different because I had just had my body changed, but I realized it was more than that, my hearing, sense of smell, and probably taste as well were different, better in some cases if I had to guess, looking at myself again I took an even closer look, realizing that the ears on my head now were my only ears ' _That makes sense, fox-human hybrid not really needing two sets of ears_ '

I could hear the fox laboring with its load, and while I could barely see it, I could hear it stop and hear the sounds of eating as it chowed down on it's kill. Turning back to the river after I calmed down, I drank some more water, filling the Camelbak bag that I had packed and got it set up to let me drink on the go. Water source in place, I reached into my bag and pulled out an old roll of toilet paper, taking care of some personal business, figuring out the new plumbing took a bit of experimentation. After that was done, I broke off a small branch and walked to the river's edge ' _The river looks fairly still, downstream isn't obvious, and I don't hear any rapids_ '

I threw the branch in and watched as it floated downstream, telling me the direction I should travel. Watching it for a few more moments as I put the extra clothes back on, with dehydration now not being anywhere near as pressing of an issue.

As it was downstream of me, I watched the fox as I got closer, ears perked forward, my interest obvious to any observer who might see me ' _Aw, that fox is so cute! It reminds me of Juniper from Instagram, but thinner, probably a wild fox and not one raised for a fur farm_ ' Eventually it ran, catch in it's mouth and I was a bit saddened. I like watching wild animals eat their prey for some reason, it always struck me as the purest expression of nature, one without censoring and sugarcoating, just the circle of life with all the nasty parts nobody in cities likes to think about left in.

As I watched it run, I took in the sounds of nature around me, I heard the birdsong stop suddenly and heard a strange rhythmic sound coming from behind me I hadn't noticed before! Turning to the sound I tried to find it's source when something hit at my feet and I looked down! An arrow! I quickly tried to run, only for another arrow to land in front of me that way too! Whoever shot it was was across the river, and they had help on this side! Turning towards the trees I tried to run that way only to be hit from the side, my body painfully trying unsuccessfully to bend and fold around whatever hit me, I felt a popping in my side and a warm rush as I fell, gasping and crying out in a scream as the pain hit, laying there like a fish out of water from the pain, I felt huge rough hands quickly pulling my arms back, I wasn't going to escape this time, especially since I think that hit must have at the very least heavily bruised one of my ribs. I felt myself, pack and all being hefted over somebody's shoulder and saw a passingly familiar style of dress, more assorted clothing on a body that even from my limited vantage point looked like it by rights could bench press a whole lot more than my weight, I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose as the sheer stench of this guy, my stomach clenched, he had to have been upwind of me for me not to have noticed that stench. "'EY! DIS HER?!" He bellowed at the other side of the river. I started to struggle and growled out "Lemme go you fucking oaf!" hitting my hands and feet against him ineffectually only to get a cuff to the head and a "Stop movin!" which bought him a second before I redoubled my efforts. A hand around my throat, squeezing off my air and blood as I was brought off the shoulder and face to face with one of the ugliest men i've ever seen, his face was covered with red sores and bulged in strange places like he had tumors growing under his skin.

"STOP. MOVIN'!" he roared across the span of two breaths from less than an arms length away, spittle landing on my face ' _Can't breath! ! If I don't stop he might really choke me to death!_ '

I stopped struggling and went still, hanging limp and hoping he'd see that I'd stopped fighting before I asphyxiated, he held me up for several agonizing seconds and I was about to aim a kick at his groin to get him to release me when a new voice broke in, less brutal, but still not one that filled me with any confidence of a rescue "She's stopped fighting idiot. Put her down, I can't reach that high."

I hissed as I hit the ground, landing like the sack of potatoes I felt like. A small man that reminded me most of a hobbit in his child-like but somehow mature appearance tied arope around my neck, then another binding my arms back, using the bulk of my pack to hold them apart with a length of rope. Taking my coat off my pack and checking all it's pockets he chucked it at the bigger man "Carry that" not even stopping to check if it was even grabbed before he turned to me.

"Get up! We've got a walk ahead of us" he aimed a kick at my leg, less to injure and more to get my attention and motivate, the pain was just too much. I mechanically got up, my mind reeling ' _What is going to happen to me now?'_ My mind churned with the possibilities as I put one foot in front of the other, face screwed in pain. ' _I really fucked up...I should have realized, somehow that they were there_ '

As I walked for most of the remaining day, my thoughts ran over what happened again and again, thinking of everything I could have done differently and feeding a nuclear level anxiety over what could happen to me,finally when I could stand it no longer, I opened my mouth and spoke, the late day sun in my eyes.

"P-P-please, just let me go? I won't tell anyone where you are, just let me get the nearest tow-AAAA!" I mewled out only to scream in pain as I was clubbed to the ground by 'Big & Ugly' while 'Hobbit' laughed "Good one, let you go? Nah, we'll find a use for you somehow, probably sell you, how you like the sound of that?" he laughed even more and I felt the flame of defiance rising in me again, I tried to get up only to feel a blade against my face for the second time today 'Hobbit' did not look amused "You're lucky women like you are rare around here, but my patience is getting thin, I won't say this again, walk." the blade felt cold and sharp against my skin, cooling the rage I had felt, wordlessly I swallowed what I was going to say and cast my eyes at the ground, slowly nodding once the blade was removed from my skin "Fine." I let my tone drip with my contempt for him, but still made the effort to get up, helped roughly by 'Big & Ugly', 'Hobbit' then pulled a lamp out and opened it up, putting a rather bright light on the path ahead, instead of a fuel tank and wick it appeared to just have a strange purple crystal. He set off at a brisk pace, pulling me hard behind him, the three of us traveling along a much more worn path I hadn't noticed we'd been following, we'd left the river behind. ' _Dammit, if I had been paying attention I would know how to get back to the river!'_

This looked almost like a wagon track, two heavy ruts had been put into the ground and the ground between showed signs of quite a bit of foot traffic, the ground was almost bare of vegetation for a good couple of feet wide if my estimate wasn't off, this was the closest thing to a road I'd seen since I had arrived here! I felt an almost insane hope rising in me again, ' _There just HAS to be some kind of settlement around somewhere close, people don't just move things cross country without some kind of destination!_ ' Ignoring the two for the moment, I could feel my tail wagging ever so slightly. Before 'Hobbit's voice broke into my thoughts "The fuck you happy about? You actually like the idea of being sold? Or you just thinking about all the guys you'll be 'entertaining'?" his leering look told me he'd take pleasure in making sure he was one of them. I hung my head, I needed to survive, if that meant having to 'entertain' this piece of shit, I'd just wait for my chance and do...something, anything, to hurt him. But the fire of my rage would not go out ' _No! I won't do this, I will fight! I CAN'T FUCKING TOLERATE THIS! I don't care if I die anymore!_ ' Then I realized it, he seemed like he was just trying to get a rise out of me and I had a moment of clarity, as fucked as I was, I couldn't help but feel a chill, I had power at this moment, he wanted me to be sickened, to give up, to just give in, but I didn't have to, with one choice I could turn the tables.

Throwing caution to the wind, I raised my head and started laughing, right in his face, looking at the triumphant look on his face change to one of confusion "Hahaha, what's the matter? Can't get a woman another way? Have to capture them and force them to do what you want? How pathetic, I'd rather 'entertain' HIM as you put it." I aimed a kick, going for broke and leaning back, bringing as much power and weight as I could into it and shockingly managed to hit him right in the crotch, raising him off the ground with the force of it. He clutched his groin and wheezed out in a high octave "You bitch!" before he dropped to the ground. Using my head to gesture to 'Big & Ugly', if anything he appeared even more confused than 'Hobbit', turning to him I tried to use a seductive tone

"Tell you what, you want some of this, right? Kill him and I'll let you do whatever you want to me" I emphasized it with a big wink, laying it on as thick as I could while I took a quick side step and moved away from them both by a few feet to avoid any counter attack, stopping when I saw 'Hobbit' starting to recover and turn over. The bigger man took a step back "Uhhhh..Really? You not lie to Drog?" I turned to him quickly, hearing 'Hobbit' struggling to get up

"Oh is that your name, that's a big strong name, just like you, better hurry though, if he gets up, he'll do what he wants to me instead, I can't do anything with you if that happens!"

I started moving to put Drog between the two of us, not having to fake a scared look "Hurry up! Kill him!" I bent over as much as I could with the backpack on me and wiggled my hips, this finally must have been the straw to break the camels back, as with a shout of "Drog want turn with pretty lady! Not let little man trick Drog again!" he started to move with a great anger and purpose towards the smaller man.

'Hobbit' yelled "No you idiot! She's just trying to trick you!" "Little man always trick Drog! Always make Drog wait! Then sell girl before Drog has turn!" with a roar he shoved me further out of his way, knocking me to the ground as he picked up 'Hobbit' who dropped the lantern and tried to cut at him with what I saw now was a dagger, screaming as he was swung with great force to impact on a tree with a noise like a ripe melon being smashed, what happened next I couldn't describe, by the time Drog finished, 'Hobbit' whatever his name had been, was from the noises I heard now likely a leaky mushy bag of skin and probably pulverized bones. With a grunt Drog turned to look at me and took a step towards me, a look in his eyes that promised that I would certainly be paying for my sudden turn of luck. I swallowed heavily and giggled at the absurdity as the thought bubbled in my mind ' _Fuck me, that actually worked!'_ then I felt my lunch rising up my throat.

End Ch 2

A/N: Not dead, still writing, this looked a lot longer in google docs, upside for how long this took, next chapter is pretty well along.


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